Eyes on Jesus
(Read 2 Corinthians 12)
Yesterday was my Birthday. Not a milestone, just another notch in my belt. I have a tradition of tackling long runs on my Birthdays, and yesterday I was a few miles into a half-marathon when I crossed paths with a friend on a morning walk. “You make it look easy,” she said, complimenting me.
“It’s never easy,” I returned.
This got me thinking. It’s funny that people who don’t run assume that running is easy for daily runners. I next concluded that the same principle can apply to people who face daily struggles. While some folks display scars on their sleeves, where we know every bump in the road they’ve faced, other folks have such mature, deep faith that their joy in God shines brighter than the darkness of their valleys.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
2 Corinthians 12
Paul has been attributed to writing 13 or 14 letters recorded in the New Testament, including 2 Corinthians. Many scholars and Christians have guessed about what Paul’s “thorn” was, but I’ve always thought, what does it matter? Would it matter to you if your best friend faced a terminal cancer, suicidal depression, or a life-threatening execution in a foreign prison? Every single living creature on earth will go through a season of trials and tribulation. Only believers look to God for strength, endurance, and guidance to press on. When it comes to the thorns in our flesh, how we demonstrate our faith matters more than the specific ailment we’re dealing with.
This week in Bible study as we were wrapping up our review of Ephesians, one of our friends shared her ongoing battles with chronic pain. You need to know more about her to appreciate the radiance of her walk-in faith. (Y) is warm, has a very humble soul, and is gushing with generosity. She is a dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, friend, and child of Christ. (Y) sews quilts for friends and family, she uses her creative skills to monogram outfits for her granddaughters and others, she’s an active contributor in our Life Group, and she leads a Ladies’ Bible Study weekly. There’s not much she won’t do even if it pains her to do so.
“Some days, I just can’t do what I want to do,” she shared. (Y) had some cortisone injections a few weeks ago and experienced several days free from pain. Then it came back. She told me that she does pray to be pain free, but that she always tries to listen closely to God. “I know, God’s grace is sufficient for me,” she said. (Y) has several medical conditions that bring intense, stabbing pain every day. “Some days are better than others, but it’s always there.”
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Does God remove our painful thorn? Sometimes. But at other times he refuses our request or says not yet. God has a purpose that all things, ALL things, will work together for the good of those who love Him. (Y) is not one of those people who believes that faith in God means that life will always go her way. She knows this personally. She’s also too mature of a believer to adopt that false theology. Aside from 2 Corinthians, (Y) also pointed me to Romans 8 for inspiration. Romans 8 refers to “the goodness” of our spiritual redemption, not our physical ease and comfort. Goodness is not comfort in worldly terms but has more to do with enduring grace.
(Y) continued, “I always set aside time for prayer and quiet time with God, but throughout the day, I have more personal conversations with Him. I’m always talking with God. It’s an ongoing dialog.”
I had to ask the hard question. “Knowing you’re going to be facing pain each day, what keeps you going? What helps you push through?”
“Family. Friends. Growth groups. It’s all God, she answered brokenly. “God puts people in my life to keep me going.” God does this with all of us, I thought. It’s easy to interpret Romans 8:28 correctly and still miss the real suffering of someone else. We don’t know the depths and darkness of someone else’s pain, so we need to be careful not to sermonize or analyze God’s purpose in any moment. That’s a God thing.
Ultimately, God’s promise is for saved believers who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ like my friend (Y). God hasn’t, can’t, and won’t promise something He doesn’t plan on fulfilling. That’s precisely why we pray to Him. Not for a wish list of checkboxes, we pray for a connection, a road map, a lantern.
“I give God praise in my prayers. I ask Him to help me pray frequently. I pray with thanksgiving. I have a husband who loves me and supports me. I have two wonderful children who have turned to Jesus. I pray for protection; I thank God for showing me His beauty in my life.”
There is so much light in (Y). You would never know the day-to-day attacks she faces trying to bring her down. On the inside, (Y) is a weathered soldier fighting spiritual warfare. “At the end of the day, I’m done,” she said. Therein lies the beauty and miracle of her faith. She starts the next day with prayers to God and ongoing conversations. “Each day, I keep my eyes on finding joy.” That’s who she is to the world. Not a Pollyanna but a faithful believer — a lighthouse.
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.
Jeremiah 32: 38-40
John Piper once wrote, “If God doesn’t chain me to God, I’m a goner.” Plain and simple we can’t do this, any of this, on our own. Easy or hard, it’s a walk alone we’re not equipped for. Despite what (Y) is living with, she has been blessed with God’s sustaining grace — providing her with ongoing strength and fight. Sustaining grace does not remove the struggle, but because of the cross, (Y) will never face a drought in God’s presence. “I’m so thankful for encouragement from friends, for answered prayers, for guidance from friends and from God.”
“Christian music serves as a powerful source of prayer and praise for me,” (Y) admitted. When I’m looking for miracles, times to remember God’s grace, or days when I want God to take away the pain, it’s so uplifting to me.” (Y) is a spiritual triathlete. She’s out there every single day, fighting the good fight. She turns despair into hopefulness. Agony into joy. She makes life look easy.
“If I didn’t have this,” she concluded, “then maybe my eyes wouldn’t be on Jesus.”
Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain
Bring the Rain — Mercy Me
Key Applications:
- Read 2 Corinthians 12. What is your thorn? Acknowledge it. Identify it. Pray to God about it. Trust Him to be with you through it. Release it.
- Reach out to a family member or friend who has chronic issues. Ask them if you can help. If they say no, ask what you can pray for. Even unbelievers will usually open-up.
- Never assume you know what someone is going through. Think of your own life. Do you share your ailments and heartaches with people you’re close with and every stranger you meet? Of course not. Pray each morning for patience, love, and that God’s grace will extend to those who are suffering.
Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.